Through the Rough
by Seams
Summary: In the unlikely event of Jeb falling victim to common back cramps, Melanie ends up having to run an errand with Ian. Will disclosing what she's been hiding for months be as easy as discussing zombies, literature, and bad music? One-shot. Totally Canon.


***Sniffs* No, I don't own the Host. Title and inspiration belong to Merriment.**

This morning the earth was turned, the seeds were planted, and the perishables were saved. It was a day without chores, yet the caves could not sit still. It anticipated the arrival of their stranger family like the humans that it housed. They ran hither and tither, impatient, excited and scared, all at the same time. A mixture resulting in anxiety.

Nay, there was little fear. These were humans, these were friends. If there was anything to fear, it was to fear _for _them.

There was a longer line to the bathing room, than the new corridor everyone was helping to build. The picks and hoes were stranger objects they never recalled wielding, shoved in a corner cell at the end of the new west corridors. These were the same humans that had lived before the invasion - these were the civil humans with glaring joy that rarely made a show. These humans were happy.

Evidently, though, when three of the rebel cells arrived, it was clear this congregation was going to be a problem.

"This here is the game room," Jeb wagged his gun around the large underground cave, for the third time. The speculating human eyes followed.  
Ellen, though deeply interested in the workings of Jeb's cave system, had other concerns. "You don't look so hot, Jeb,"  
"I always look hot, Ellen. Haven't seen a day over-" Jeb, suddenly straining his shoulder to look taller, seemed to be in pain. Wincing, there was a piercing, cracking sound. Like a bone. "_My back._"

This was something that could have easily been solved with No Pain. If they hadn't traded it all.

"You go take a lie in, Uncle Jeb," Melanie ordered. Gail's group was being shown around by Geoff and Trudy. Maggie and Sharon mindlessly ignored him - it was karma, they said.  
Jeb stood with his back hunched, while Melanie shook her head. "That back's gonna need some restin'."  
"Yeah, Jeb," Andy started. "Old people shouldn't-"  
"You calling me _old, _boy? I haven't taken a sick day since '94."  
"Get some sleep," Melanie said, with more authority this time. She grabbed the gun that was held loosely in Jeb's hand.  
"Well, why can't Doc give me some of his alien thinga-ma-jigs?"  
"We're all out," Andy answered.  
"Squanderers. Squanderers the lot of you."  
Melanie was evidently irritated at this point. "We traded it, Jeb. Now, drink some water and go to your room!"  
"Now, don't be quotin' your Nana."  
"Bed!" Melanie shouted. She shot a look at Andy. "Paige and Andy will do the rest of the tours."  
Jeb winced again. "'Least get somebody on the No Pain."  
"No can do, Jeb," said Andy. "After that _stunt_ Evan pulled to get Zooey here, Burns said we oughta be cautious."  
"Well then, send Wanda on the job!"  
"Jeb, you of all people realize it would be a bad idea to go on a raid a week after Seekers find one of our caches."  
"Jesus H. Roosevelt, just get me the damn - _my back!_"  
Melanie sighed. "We're on it, Jeb."

Jared was immersed in conversation with Max. Melanie didn't even try to slyly sneak in to his arms - they were as attached as ever, but the constant need to physically see and touch him had alleviated. Or perhaps, her old inmate had affected her too greatly. Her past inhabitant had cursed her with leftover feelings that were never supposed to belong to her.

Melanie resisted the urge to reach out to him - _she _was the one who suggested they needed more space.

She found Sunny waiting in the eating area for Kyle to get their food. Sunny didn't mind her much anymore. Nobody did.

"Seen Wanda?"  
She shruugged. "With, Ian?"  
There was a flicker of doubt on Melanie's face. Ever since the west corridors were scheduled to be built, they rarely were.  
"Seen Ian then?"  
Sunny shook her head. She was clearly disappointed for not being able to help. Souls.  
Melanie leaned on the counter for a while, before asking Sunny her regular question. "How's Jodi?"  
"No sign." Kyle answered for her. "I asked." He landed the plates with a clatter - three for him, one for Jodi.  
"Any idea where your brother is?"  
He dug into his meal, barely chewing and swallowing much too quickly. "Saw him chatting up the new girl a while back."

_South wing it is_.

"I can't understand." Candy said in disappointment and slight sorrow. "She said he got inserted a month ago."  
"Who even asked you to get a teenager?" Doc asked Ian. "She said the possibilities were unlikely."  
"That's Zooey's brother, Doc, we couldn't just leave him," Wanda answered him.

Zooey napped quietly in the other cot, clutching at Ian's hand. She was a bit younger than Jamie, closer to Isaiah's age. The boy on the cot was Cameron - who used to be Heath's nephew. They revived humans routinely now, which required more and more space, causing the west corridors to be built. Working to get back these humans were also Wanda's main chore, and she didn't seem to mind - even Ian thought it suited her well.

"And I think after all that trouble Evan went into, it was kind of injustice to just forget the kid."  
Melanie disagreed."Evan was an idiot back there."  
"Evan jeopardised his life to get these to kids." No one had to look to know Ian had voiced the dissent.  
"He jeopardised all of us."  
"He wasn't exactly going to hand us in, when he ran in there."  
"But loitering the Seekers all the way to Tucson was real smart, wasn't it?"  
"He got away, Melanie."  
"Barely."  
"I would have understood your dissent if you'd actually been there!"  
"Well, I was, from a distance!"  
"You can use your woman logic where's it's appropriate!"  
"I don't know why you have to be sexist here!"  
"I don't know why we're having this pointless debate!"  
"Stop it!" Wanda screeched. She was quite irritated at this point. Candy and Doc had now migrated to the far corner, at the desk. They could still hear the loud voices, but clearly their attention was on something else.

In the beginning it had been easier, because Melanie naturally felt sorry. Now that she was the one who brought Wanda back, she didn't try to hide the fact how little she liked him - how little she liked both brothers. Fights like this happened often - it was the post-confusion period. Where Melanie put her feelings in a box and covered it up with hate, to hide it.

It took them a while to settle down.  
"Anyway," Melanie broke the silence. "Jeb's back is pretty bad. He asked for some No Pain."  
"Wanda's not walking into that-"  
"_Shut up_." Melanie shot Ian an ugly glare. "Well, we can't go the healing facilities, so we'll have to get some of our trade back. Who'd we give it all to?"  
Doc, who had quietly been reading during all this hustle bustle, reached for his notebook, and informed them half the haul had gone to Russell's and the other half to Nate's. Nobody from their cells were here.

"Alright, then, I'm off to Russell's." They were the closest.  
Melanie made for the corridors. "Wait, where's Jared?" Wanda asked. Her intentions were pure.  
"Making friends."  
"You're going alone?" Doc was unnerved by the idea. Russell's lot had been the least welcoming to them.  
"They're humans, Doc, I'll be fine."  
"You could take Wanda with you," Candy provided.  
"I want to be here when Cameron comes around."  
Wanda looked at her partner. "Take Ian." Clever. But, Melanie wasn't in the mood.  
Ian clearly wasn't appeased by the idea, either. "But, honey-"  
"You've been stuck here for a while. Get some air."  
"This is not a good idea." Melanie said, mostly to herself.

* * *

"This is not a good idea," Melanie repeated, driving recklessly through the desert towards Russell's peak. The good part about this extremely bad idea was that Russell's house was overground. It was slightly elevated, and required minor climbing. She was glad for the exercise it would require, so small talk would be unnecessary.

Ian was stretched out beside her, trying hard to concentrate on his novel. It was hopeless with all the turbulence.  
"I told you to let me drive."  
"I told you to shut up. Twice."  
"I don't know why you're obliged to _always _be rude to me."  
As if to make a point, Ian put his '90s punk crap on. She snatched the Screeching Weasels CD out, and smashed her fist on the radio. That right there was unadulterated sacrilege.  
"This is blasphemy, Melanie." the sound that filled the car was alien music, and neither was it relaxing, nor catchy. It was distorted computer noises.  
"No, it's dubstep. It's been around for a while."  
"The hell is _dubstep_?"  
"Some techno music that started out a couple years ago."  
Ian's face contorted in disgust. "You're not telling me you _like_ this, right?"  
It was as repugnant to Melanie as it was to Ian. "Sure, I do." Anything to annoy him even slightly.  
After a while it got intolerable. The tempo increased, and the noises resembled more of a dying computer than ... whatever it was supposed to sound like. Melanie turned it off.

"Amusing," Ian scoffed, putting his paperback near the windshield.  
Scanning the cover for the lack of anything better to do, Melanie smirked. "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Ian?"  
"Of course, Melanie," he answered, solemnly."'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife,'" he quoted the original Austen from memory, then added, "…and brains, NOM NOM NOM!"  
Laughing, she asked, "Is that really how it starts?"  
"Um…nope…" Flipping through the book to the beginning, he read, "'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.'"

Eyeballing her seriously he threw in another, "NOM NOM NOM!" in what was clearly intended to be a scary monster voice. It wasn't scary at all.  
It was, however, pretty adorable.

Eager to concentrate on something else, Melanie asked, "Doesn't Wanda ever protest to all that stuff?" she didn't dare meet his eye.  
"How humans come up with all these gruesome things continue to bewilder her." he didn't provide a 'yes' or 'no'.

Melanie knew why Wanda had sent him with her. And even after facing rattlesnakes, coyotes, and death almost twice, she couldn't find herself to do it. She couldn't simply just ask him. And neither could he. She couldn't tolerate the tension between them, the unmoving burden on their shoulders; the confusion. It occurred to her she wanted to be his friend. What scared her was admitting her feelings - which could get in the way of it.

_He has to know._

"Ian, there's something I need to-"  
"Stop, Melanie."  
"But, Ian, it's really important, you need to hear-"  
"No, Melanie, stop!"  
What Ian's eyes were fixated on was a tree, but it was too late - Melanie was headed right for it, and Ian couldn't steer away even if he tried.  
_Bang! Thrash! PRRRRGRRRURRRGH!_

"This was not a good idea." the two of them said. It was quiet.

* * *

_Read the manual. I _would _freaking read the manual. If there was one._

"I think we should leave it here, Mel. Russell's isn't far from here - I'm sure he'll let us borrow their car."  
"Shut up, Ian. Just shut the hell up. This is not the freaking Ian Show."  
"Just trying to help, Mel."  
"If you ever call me Mel, ever again, I will rip your vocal cords out, cook them, and feed it to the coyotes."  
Ian raised his hands in surrender. "Sheesh. Fine, I'll go stand there in the corner then."  
Melanie approved. And immediately wanted him back.

_What is _wrong _with me__?_

"Ian?" she called out. "Can I ask you something?"  
Smugly, he responded, "I thought this wasn't the freaking Ian Show." Melanie looked at him with desperation. "Go ahead."  
She breathed deeply. "What is this?"  
"What's what?"  
"_This_. All this fighting."  
Ian's hand fell back to his sides. "You tell me, Melanie."  
She paused longer than usual. "How do I explain this?" she was thoughtful for a while. "I hate you because ... I have to."  
"No, you don't." he didn't seem to understand. "What happened to the nice Melanie that I met for the first time?"  
"She's scared."  
"Of?"  
"Falling in love with you."

As soon as it had come out, Melanie regretted it. But this was enough denial she'd dealt with. Behind her sense of fear, lay a bit of relief. Deep, deep, down under.

"_What_?"  
"You think I found freedom unscathed?"  
For the first time in a while, Ian had begun searching for words. "But that means..."  
"I told you when I met you what she felt was "strong". Hadn't you thought for a second that affected me?"  
"But.."  
"I could feel what she felt. The best I could do was cloud her judgement, but I couldn't hold out for long. She was falling for you, Ian. And I fell with her."  
"But, Jared?"  
"Of course I love him. But I have to-"  
"No, Jared. Wanda. Jared. Is it the same for her?"  
It was typical of him to think of her in the same scenario. But think of her during the revelation of her feelings for him? She wasn't just angry - no, now she was jealous. "Oh, screw you, Ian."  
"You need to tell me, Melanie."  
"I just admitted to having feelings for you."  
"I'm flattered, Melanie, I truly am. But, tell me. Does she?"  
"What did she tell you?"  
"She said she was never confused."  
"Idiot," Melanie put a palm on her forehead. "You asked her the _wrong _question."  
"Then please enlighten me with the right one."  
"None of us are _confused_. We were past that the first few days."  
"_Then what?_"  
"It's a lot more complicated then that. We're ... torn. We're like a puzzle with the pieces fitted in all the wrong places."  
Ian was confused.  
"Sharing two minds in one body can damage you, Ian. Let's just leave it at that."  
"So you're saying it'll always be there?"  
Melanie knew what he was talking about. "The feelings we shared? Yes. Always."  
"Okay." Ian wasn't happy with the discovery, but he seemed to be satisfied with knowing the truth.  
"But she loved you enough to make me feel this way - so that says a lot."  
"Yeah," Ian smiled. "It does."  
It was quiet again, as they stomached all that had been revealed. "So... we good?" Melanie's eyes twinkled.

Ian saw what once used to be Wanda's smile. It was a face he had once kissed, loved and wept for.  
But it was just that - a face.  
The kindness in her eyes, the warmth in her smiles - it was missing. It was all lathered with Melanie's aggression. Everything he'd loved about that face was gone.

But he didn't want to think Melanie's feelings were unrequited. They were friends after all, and friends reached out to help. So he did what he thought was best for both of them. He covered the space between them, paused for a second, took a deep breath, leaned down - and kissed her.

Time seemed frozen - and when they pulled away at the same time, the world seemed right again.  
"Let's not do that again."  
"Yuck."  
"Did you feel something?"  
"Nope."  
"I guess we're good."

"Hey you! _Hey you! _Give us some identification!"  
It was Bobby from Russell's cave, and Melanie blushed, wondering how long they'd been watching. _Crap_.

"We're from Jeb's!" Ian yelled. "We come in peace."

It took Bobby a while to get to them, check their eyes, and bring them back with all his belly bulk.

But throughout all this, Melanie was decided about certain things. On the way back home, she let Ian drive Russell's car, so she could use this time to think. She was decided about the fact that she would run back home, and leap into Jared. She'd decided that she'd cover the distance that she'd built between them. Through the rough, she was positive and certain about one thing - she loved Jared.

Whatever she thought she had with Ian was different. She didn't know whether he'd tell Wanda, or anybody about today. She didn't know where Ian and her would be. She didn't know where she herself was headed.

"Jeb, your back." Melanie gasped and stared at him in awe.  
"Turns out our new guy Cameron's dad used to be a chiropractor."

But that was human life. It was imperfect and unpredictable. You never did.

* * *

**Okay, so it's evident I didn't proofread - but I was just so excited to get this up!  
****Any mess you come across, let me know! REVIEEEWWW!**


End file.
